Im in the process of looking to purchase my first slr camera. Ive been happily using my P&amp;S camera the Fuji S700 and love it, but I want to expand and get an slr to really see what I can do with one.

So first and foremost my friend and I have always loved the Nikon D50 camera but since its been discontinued and were not ones to buy electronics off ebay, we quickly fell in love with the Nikon D80, sadly its not in our budget to purchase such a camera with additional lenses.

We have found a camera that seems to measure up and that would be the Olympus Evolt E-510. From what we have saw from a few people that use this camera it looks like it compares pretty close to what the Nikon can do as far as scenic pictures do as we haven't really found much in the means of portrait photos or ones that haven't been edited.

So after searching the forum and looking for a thread with pictures off this camera, and failing horribly, though I will keep looking, I was hoping that if there is anyone here with this camera, you could post some of your pictures untouched and unedited.

Then also one thing I have noticed in the difference is just a couple hundred dollars, now the other thing is because half of my photographer friends they actually use the Nikons D50 or D80 and not heard anything bad about this camera they dont really know the spefics of this camera or on the lenses. So any tips on some would be very helpful

I posted this in a thread somewhere, but I got to thinking maybe it would be better in its own topic. Dunno hope its okay

Thanks again, not having much luck on the one site, im looking at the pbase place now.

I couldnt for the life of me remember where I had posted that, thankfully after going to my profile and searching where I had posted, I was able to find it.

Basically what im looking for is to see what this camera can do without having to use all the editing. Obviously for the most part pics get retouched or brightened etc. So I want to have to do less of that and still get a good picture. Ive learned that its not the camera, but the person holding it, still id like an idea as to what this camera can do before making the purchase.

You're correct in your assessment that most allimages posted have had some post processing done. Wether it be slight such as crop, contrast, brightness adjustment or some other more radical pp that completely changes the images as compared to when it first came out of the camera. Then you have to factor in the lens used to take the image. The quality will vary greatlydepending on thelenses used. Thankfully, the kit lenses supplied with the E-510 are actually quite good and are generally better than the kit lenses provided by other camera manufacturer's.

My suggestion to you would be to go to a camera shop armed with a cf flash card and take a bunch of shots with the E-510. Take them home, view them on your pc and see wether they meet your approval.

One last suggestion, if you have the time and inclination here is a link to an in-depth look at the E-510. It is written by a fellow named Wrotniak who has no affiliation with any magazine or camera company so he has no personal agenda that might taint his review:

Also does this camera just take the cf flash card or does it use others like the xmb or sd...I think I have the names right LoL.

I dont know of any camera shops here that actually let you stick a card in and take shots with it unless you have purchased it.

I will go give the site a look and read over.

You have put my mind at ease a little more with the mention of the kit lens being quite good. My friend and I have been trying to find some research on them as far as them being good as we have heard we would not be at all happy and infact rather board with kit lens that are with the Nikons, though they have some great lens you can purchase. We have also found this camera on sale with the kit lens so we were debating on getting it with lens or just the body. Eventually we hope to purchase some lenses for this if we go with the camera...would you recommend any?

Also does this camera just take the cf flash card or does it use others like the xmb or sd...I think I have the names right LoL.

I dont know of any camera shops here that actually let you stick a card in and take shots with it unless you have purchased it.

I will go give the site a look and read over.

You have put my mind at ease a little more with the mention of the kit lens being quite good. My friend and I have been trying to find some research on them as far as them being good as we have heard we would not be at all happy and infact rather board with kit lens that are with the Nikons, though they have some great lens you can purchase. We have also found this camera on sale with the kit lens so we were debating on getting it with lens or just the body. Eventually we hope to purchase some lenses for this if we go with the camera...would you recommend any?

Yes, I own the E-510.

It has the capability to use and storeboth a compact flash card and an XD card.

Any reputable camera shop will allow you to do that. They should also allow you to try out other lenses that they stock. After all, they're in the business of selling you the product and want you to come back and buy more.

Typically, the Kit contains the 14-45mm lens and a 40-150mm lens. Both lenses are quite good and frankly sell for short money when purchased with the kit.

My camera is the E500 the forerunner of the 510, I'm totally happy with mine but the 510 has a couple of features that I wish I had. The main one being the IS. Takes out the shakes when using long lenses. I got the same kit lenses with mine, the 14-45 and 40-150 using Nikon old 35mm terms they would equate to 28-90 and 80-300 and I love them, they're compact and give very good results.

One combination these 510 owners have come to like and make me totally jealous is the 510 and the 70-300 Zuiko lens. It give incredible results for a $320 purchace and show me a NiCannon lens that is as compact and has the 35 mm equivelent of 140-600 with 1-1 macro capabilities. Look for some of Greg Chapel's threads and others on this combo in this board and you'll see what I mean.

As for being able to purchase Nikon lenses, ask anyone of how Zuiko lenses stack up with them in availability, quality, results, amount of lenses and price.

Ive actually been looking at some pics taken with that lens the 70-300. Ive been seeing amazing things done with it.

One thing that is worrying me is all this mention of there being noise.

Though ive liked the mention of hearing how once I get used to this camera I will find I never want to put it down or cant live without it.

I think the Nikon just compares to me as I have saw and know more people that use it and have been blown away by what they can accomplish with it.

I do however like hearing good things about the kit lens though. As that was something my friend and I hadnt heard much on while we first started looking at this camera model. We did like that on a top 10 camera list the Nikon D80 was number 1 followed by the Olympus E510.

One thing I like about the E510 is the amount of settings available at the touch of a button. There's really no hunting through menus.

The other major factor that's been touched on is lenses. Yes, there are less options available than the Nikon mounts. On the other hand, you can't really go wrong with any of the Zuiko Digital(Olympus) lenses.Even the cheaper one's take great images.

Can you give me some examples of lenses along with what they like work well on. One main one im after is for good portrait shots. Another would be for cappturing things far away without having to be right in there face, example birds, bugs, hockey players from sitting up in the higher seating areas etc.